“Better yet, maybe we should sell the house, move into something much smaller, easier to clean,” I suggest.

“Maybe an apartment in downtown Bangor?”

“What do you think? Huh? What do you think?”

He can’t keep up.

According to a study by Susan Brown, co-director of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, the divorce rate for the general population has stayed about the same since the 1980s, but the divorce rate has doubled for couples over the age of 50.

Empty nesters need to prepare for this transition. All of the websites I’ve read say so.

We need to remember what we liked about each other when we met 25 years ago. We need to remember what we used to like to do before we had children. We need to get physically fit and try to look attractive for one another. We need to linger over romantic dinners again and fill our house with our favorite music instead of the blaring of the TV set.

We need hobbies!

That’s the conversation I was having in my head as we traveled down the road and blurted out the fly fishing idea.

Oh, that’s the other thing, we have got to remember to talk to each other again — about interesting things.

I guess I’ll give it a try, but I think the inside of my head is going to miss our conversations.